Image forming apparatus and operation accepting method

ABSTRACT

A disclosed image forming apparatus accepts a selecting operation of selecting a button displayed on a touch panel and performs a process corresponding to the selected button. The image forming apparatus includes a moving region display unit displaying a region mark to be selected on the touch panel and moving the region mark as time passes and a button specifying unit specifying one or more buttons based on positional information indicating a position of the region mark and positional information indicating a pressed position of the touch panel.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional application of and claims thebenefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 from U.S. application Ser. No.12/836,917, filed Jul. 15, 2010, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C§119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-170325, filed Jul. 21,2009, the entire contents of each of which is hereby incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to an image forming apparatusaccepting a selecting operation of a button displayed on a touch paneland performing a process corresponding to the selected button. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to an image formingapparatus and an operation accepting method in which various methods ofselecting buttons are provided.

2. Description of the Related Art

There are some people who temporarily or permanently suffer fromphysical disorder. For such people suffering from physical disorder(hereinafter “the disabled”), it may be difficult to move his/her hand(finger) to the various positions on a touch panel of an apparatus toset a desired operating condition of the apparatus.

To overcome the difficulty, various methods have been developed to helpthe disabled so as to operate apparatuses more easily. Japanese PatentApplication Publication No. 10-171570 (“Patent Document 1”) discloses aswitching input method in which an arrow bar rotates and scans on adisplay and, when the arrow bar is at the desired position, the disableduses a pneumatic switch to select (input) the operation displayed at thedesired position.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-155205(“Patent Document 2”) discloses a technique making it easier to select(press) a button positioned where it is hard to be pressed down, thoughthe technique is not specifically targeted to the disabled. Morespecifically, Patent Document 2 discloses an input control apparatus inwhich a display screen is divided into plural display regions, whichenables an operator to select one of the plural display regions. In thiscase, the operator uses a pointing device. More specifically, theoperator precisely moves the pointing device in any direction todetermine the input position.

However, in the switching input method of Patent Document 1, a means fordetecting the pneumatic air pressure is additionally required; and as aresult, an operation of the apparatus may not be completed with a touchpanel alone.

On the other hand, in the input control apparatus of Patent Document 2,it is still difficult for the disabled to precisely operate (move) thepointing device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention may provide an image forming apparatus and anoperation accepting method allowing a user to easily operate theapparatus.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided animage forming apparatus accepting a selecting operation of selecting abutton displayed on a touch panel thereof and performing a processcorresponding to the selected button. The image forming apparatusincludes a moving region display unit displaying a region mark to beselected on the touch panel and moving the region mark as time passes,and a button specifying unit specifying one or more buttons based onpositional information indicating a position of the region mark andpositional information indicating a pressed position of the touch panel.

By having this configuration, it may become possible to provide an imageforming apparatus and an operation accepting method allowing a user toeasily operate the apparatus via the touch panel alone.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent from the following description when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatusaccording to a first example of a first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a drawing showing an exemplary configuration of an operationdisplay section of the image forming apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a drawing showing an exemplary screen displayed on a liquidcrystal display section when the “Copy” key in FIG. 2 is pressed;

FIGS. 4A through 4C are drawings showing an example of screen transitionof display screens for the disabled;

FIG. 5 is a drawing showing an example of screen transition when the“Reduce/Enlarge” button is pressed;

FIG. 6 is a drawing showing an exemplary functional block diagram of theimage forming apparatus according to the first example of the firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is drawing showing an example of display data;

FIG. 8 is an exemplary flowchart showing a case where a moving button ismoved and a pressed moving button is specified in the image formingapparatus (first example);

FIG. 9 is an exemplary functional block diagram of an image formingapparatus according to a second example of the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 10 is a drawing schematically showing an example of a count table;

FIG. 11A is a table showing a relationship between the number ofpressing buttons and sizes of the buttons;

FIG. 11B is a table showing an example of display data of the buttons;

FIG. 12 is an exemplary flowchart showing a case where a moving buttonis moved and a pressed moving button is specified in the image formingapparatus (second example);

FIG. 13 is a drawing showing an example of a screen displayed on theliquid crystal display section;

FIG. 14 is a table showing a relationship between the number of pressingbuttons and the moving speed of the buttons according to a third exampleof the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is an exemplary flowchart showing a case where a moving buttonis moved and a pressed moving button is specified in the image formingapparatus (third example);

FIGS. 16A and 16B are drawings showing an example of a screen displayedon the liquid crystal display section;

FIG. 17 is a table showing a relationship between the number of pressingbuttons and the colors of the buttons according to a forth example ofthe first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is an exemplary flowchart showing a case where a moving buttonis moved and a pressed moving button is specified in the image formingapparatus (fourth example);

FIG. 19 is a drawing showing an example of a screen displayed on theliquid crystal display section;

FIG. 20 is an exemplary functional block diagram of an image formingapparatus according to a fifth example of the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 21 is a table showing an example of the display data of thebuttons;

FIG. 22 is an exemplary flowchart showing a case where a moving buttonis moved and a pressed moving button is specified in the image formingapparatus (fifth example);

FIG. 23 is a drawing showing an example of a screen displayed on theliquid crystal display section;

FIG. 24 is an exemplary functional block diagram of an image formingapparatus according to a sixth example of the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 25 is an exemplary flowchart showing a case where a moving buttonis moved and a pressed moving button is specified in the image formingapparatus (sixth example);

FIG. 26 is an exemplary functional block diagram of an image formingapparatus according to a seventh example of a second embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 27 is a drawing showing an example of a setting screen for settinga screen dividing condition;

FIG. 28A is a table showing an example of division setting information;

FIG. 28B is a table showing an example of apparatus configurationrestriction information;

FIG. 28C is a table showing an example of user use restrictioninformation;

FIG. 29 is a table showing an example of screen configurationinformation stored in a screen configuration information DB;

FIG. 30 is a table showing an example of divided region informationindicating the coordinate data (values) of divided regions;

FIG. 31 is a table showing an example of button positioning regioninformation in which button ID is associated with the divided region ID;

FIG. 32 is an exemplary flowchart showing a process starting from when“Divided” is set in a setting screen of dividing conditions until buttonpositioning region information is generated;

FIG. 33 is a drawing showing an example of a screen displayed by ascreen control section;

FIG. 34 is a drawing showing an example of button selection using amoving selection frame;

FIGS. 35A and 35B are drawings showing an example of screen transitionwhen any part of the touch panel is pressed by the disabled;

FIG. 36 is a drawing showing an example of repositioned buttoninformation generated by a repositioning processing section;

FIG. 37 is an exemplary state transition table showing transitions ofstate when the screens of the touch panel in FIGS. 33 through 35 arepressed;

FIG. 38 is an exemplary flowchart showing processes including selectingthe selection frame and repositioning of the buttons; and

FIG. 39 is a drawing showing a screen on which the disabled selects oneof the repositioned buttons displayed on the touch panel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following, preferred embodiments for carrying out the presentinvention are described using examples with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

In an image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of thepresent invention, a button called a “moving button” which is to beselected is moved and displayed on a touch panel of an operation displaysection.

More specifically, according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention, upon detecting that the moving button is pressed (selected),the image forming apparatus 100 accepts the input of operationinformation (i.e., setting item) displayed on the moving button.Further, plural moving buttons having respective setting items are movedand (sequentially) displayed. Because of this feature, the disabled mayselect a desired moving button to be selected by waiting until thedesired moving button is displayed from among the plural moving buttonssequentially displayed in the operation display section. Then, when thedesired moving button is well displayed, the disabled may press thedesired moving button easily. By repeating this process, the disabledmay easily set the desired setting conditions for operating the imageforming apparatus 100.

Next, according to a second embodiment of the present invention, aselection frame is provided and is moved through the regions of theoperation display section. By having this configuration, the disabledmay press “any” part of the surface of the operation display sectionwhen the moving selection frame is positioned on the region where thedesired setting item is displayed. By pressing in this way, the imageforming apparatus 100 accepts the setting items as input candidates, thesetting items being displayed in the region where the selection frame ispositioned. Then, the image forming apparatus 100 redisplays(repositions) the setting items accepted as the input candidates in amanner such that the disabled may select the setting item more easily.Because of this feature, it may become possible for the disabled to seta desired setting condition for operating the image forming apparatus100 by touching any part of the surface of the operation display sectionwhen the moving selection frame is at the region where the desiredsetting item is displayed.

In the following, explanations are made assuming that the operator isdisabled. However, an able-bodied person may also use the followingoperating methods provided for the apparatus according to an embodimentof the present invention. When it is not necessary to distinguishbetween the disabled and the able-bodied persons, the term “user” may beherein used.

Further, in the descriptions of the embodiments of the presentinvention, the image forming apparatus 100 is representativelydescribed. However, obviously, the present invention is not limited tothis configuration described below. The operation accepting methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention may also bepreferably applied to, for example, information processing apparatusesusing a touch panel (e.g., a cellular phone, PDA (Personal DataAssistance), PHS, and Personal Computer).

First Embodiment First Example

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary block diagram of the image forming apparatus100. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 includes ascanner 1, a plotter 2, a coding/decoding section 3, a system controlsection 4, a network connection section 5, a network control section 6,a modem 7, an image accumulation section 8, an operation display section9, and a screen control section 10. Those sections are connected to eachother via a system bus B.

The scanner 1 includes a line sensor having CCD (Charge Coupled Device)photoelectric conversion elements, A/D converters, and driving circuits.The scanner 1 optically scans an original document placed on a contactglass. Then, the scanner 1 generates RGB (or CMYK) 8-bit digital imagedata based on gray-level information of the original document obtainedby the scanning.

Upon receiving RGB (or CMYK) digital image data, the plotter 2 outputsthe received image data onto a transfer paper through anelectrophotographic process using a laser beam.

The coding/decoding section 3 encodes document (paper) information to betransmitted from the network control section 6 to compress the datausing a known coding method such as the MH (Modified Hoffman) codingmethod.

Further, the coding/decoding section 3 decodes the document (paper)information received via the network control section 6 so as toreproduce the original document (paper) information.

The system control section 4 is a microcomputer controlling the entireimage forming apparatus 100. The system control section 4 includes a CPU(Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (ReadOnly Memory), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an input/output interface, anASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) and the like.

The network connection section 5 is a NIC (Network Interface Card) toconnect to a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), and enables thenetwork connection between the physical layer and the data link layer.By having this feature, it becomes possible for a router or applicationsoftware to perform its protocol process of, for example, an upperTCP/IP layer.

The network control section 6 is a communication device to connect to atelephone line, and performs line control to transmit data to andreceive data from switching equipment.

The modem 7 modulates the document (paper) information to anddemodulates the document (paper) information from the network controlsection 6, and transmits various procedure signals to control thetransmissions.

The image accumulation section 8 is a large-capacity storage device suchas a hard disk to store electronic data. The image accumulation section8 stores digital image data, information attached to the digital imagedata, and font data.

Further, according to this embodiment, the image accumulation section 8stores a program 98 for controlling the screen display. This program 98is stored in a recording medium 99 to be distributed. When the recordingmedium 99 is connected to a recording medium interface with the systemcontrol section 4, the program 98 is installed in the image accumulationsection 8. Further, the program 98 may be installed in the imageaccumulation section 8 from a server (not shown) via the networkconnection section 5.

The operation display section 9 provides a (special) user interface whenthe disabled operates the image forming apparatus 100. The operationdisplay section 9 includes an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a touchpanel, hardware key switches (hereinafter “hard key(s)”), ten keys andthe like. The operation display section 9 causes the LCD to displayvarious statuses and operation menus (methods) of the image formingapparatus 100 and detects the operations as the disabled (operator)presses the touch panel, the hard keys, and the ten keys. The operationdisplay section 9 is connected to the system control section 4;therefore, the system control section 4 can control the image formingapparatus 100 based on a result of the operation performed on theoperation display section 9.

The screen control section 10 controls the display of the operationdisplay section 9 to display and move a moving button. The details ofthe screen control section 10 are described below.

User Interface for Able-Bodied Person

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary configuration of the operation display section9 of the image forming apparatus 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the operationdisplay section 9 includes hard keys 11, a liquid crystal displaysection 12, ten keys 13, a “Clear/Stop” key 14, and a “Start” key 15.The liquid crystal display section 12 displays various buttons toprovide respective functions, characters guiding the operation method,symbols, icons, messages and the like.

The hard keys 11 includes a “Copy” key 11 a, a “DocumentBox” key 11 b, a“SEND” key 11 c, a “PRINTER” key 11 d, and a “Scanner” key 11 e. Forexample, when a user presses the “Copy” key 11 a, the liquid crystaldisplay section 12 displays a screen for copy functions. When a userpresses the “DocumentBox” key 11 b, the liquid crystal display section12 displays a screen for DocumentBox functions. When a user presses the“SEND” key 11 c, the liquid crystal display section 12 displays a screenfor facsimile functions or E-mail functions. When a user presses the“PRINTER” key 11 d, the liquid crystal display section 12 displays ascreen for printer functions. When a user presses the “Scanner” key 11e, the liquid crystal display section 12 displays a screen for scannerfunctions.

The ten keys 13 are used, for example, to set the number of copies fromthe original paper (document). The “Start” key 15 is used to cause theimage forming apparatus 100 to start functions such as copying, storingdocument data, facsimile transmission (E-mail transmission), printing,scanning and the like. The “Clear/Stop” key 14 is used, for example, totemporarily stop the printing operation of the image forming apparatus100 upon being pressed during the printing.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the screen (menu) displayed on the liquidcrystal display section 12 when the “Copy” key 11 a of FIG. 2 ispressed. Such screens (menus) are generated by the screen controlsection 10 using necessary information obtained from the system controlsection 4. In this example of FIG. 3, a message “READY” is displayed inthe upper row. In the same row, quantity information 21 indicating“ORIGINAL 0”, “QUANTITY 1”, and “COPY 0” is displayed. The information“ORIGINAL” indicates the number of original pages (papers) having beenread by the image forming apparatus 100. The information “QUANTITY”indicates the number of sets of pages (papers) to be copied. Theinformation “COPY” indicates the number of pages (papers) actuallycopied.

Further, in the left lower column of the liquid crystal display section12, a “Full color” button 26, a “Monochrome” button 27, and an “Originaltype” button 28 are displayed. In the following, when it is notnecessary to describe a specific button, a general term “button(s)” maybe used. The “Full color” button 26 is used by a user to instruct theimage forming apparatus 100 that the original document (data) iscolored. The “Monochrome” button 27 is used by a user to instruct theimage forming apparatus 100 that the original document is monochrome.The “Monochrome” button 27 is selected as a default setting. Therefore,unless the “Full color” button 26 is pressed, the original is copied andthe like as a monochrome original document. When the “Original type”button 28 is pressed, “Text”, “Text/Photo”, “Photo”, “Pale”, “GenerationCopy” buttons and the like are displayed for appropriately setting thetype of the original document (otherwise, these buttons may be alreadydisplayed even if the “Original type” button 28 is not pressed).

Further, in the lower right part of the liquid crystal display section12, a paper selecting section 22, a reduce/enlarge setting section 23, aprint mode setting section 24, a special setting section 25, and adetail setting section 26 are displayed.

The paper selecting section 22 includes buttons for designating the sizeof the paper on which the original document is copied. The buttonsinclude an “Auto Paper Select” button, an “A4 (vertical)” button, an “A4(lateral)” button, a “B4” button, and an “A3” button. The characterssuch as “A4” displayed on the buttons are obtained by detecting the sizeof the paper set in the sheet tray. The “Auto Paper Select” button isselected as the default setting.

The reduce/enlarge setting section 23 includes buttons for selecting themagnification ratio when a user copies the original document (original).The buttons include a “Full size” button, a “93%” button, and a“Reduce/Enlarge” button. When the “Reduce/Enlarge” button is selected(pressed), the image forming apparatus 100 automatically adjusts themagnification ratio based on the paper size set by a user and thedetected size of the original document in the sheet tray.

The print mode setting section 24 includes buttons for selecting aprinting mode such as the double-sided (2-sided) printing and thecombined printing. The buttons include a “2-sided” button and a“Combine” button. For example, when the “2-sided” button is selected(pressed), the data on both sides of the original are copied onto thecorresponding sides of the paper. When the “Combine” button is selected(pressed), the data of two single sides of the originals are combinedinto one side of the paper. The print mode setting section 24 mayfurther includes a “One-sided Combine” button and a “Two-sided Combine”button and the like.

The special setting section 25 includes buttons for setting (performing)special processes such as sorting, stacking, and stapling. The buttonsinclude a “Sort” button, a “Stack” button, and a “Staple” button. Whenthe “Sort” button is selected (pressed), the copied sheets arranged insequential order are output by the sets. When the “Stack” button isselected (pressed), the copied sheets are output in a manner such thatthe sheets of the same page are output in the same place (set) when theimage forming apparatus 100 is equipped with a sort tray or a finisher.When the “staple” button is selected (pressed), the copied sheets arestapled by the set.

The detail setting section 26 includes buttons for performing detailedsettings of sorting, stapling, and hole punching. The buttons include a“Finishing” button, a “Cover/Slip Sheet” button, an “Edit/Stamp” button,a “Dup./Combine” button, and a “Reduce/Enlarge” button. The buttons inthe detail setting section 26 differ from those in the paper selectingsection 22, the reduce/enlarge setting section 23, the print modesetting section 24, and the special setting section 25 in that when thebuttons in the detail setting section 26 are pressed, another screen(menu) or a small screen (menu) is displayed. For example, when the“Finishing” button is pressed, another screen is displayed and a usermay set detailed settings of sorting, stapling and punching operations.

For example, when a user sets the conditions to perform double-sidedprinting on A4-sized paper from a color original, the user performs thefollowing setting steps.

(1) Press the “Full color” button(2) Press the “A4” button (or “Auto Paper Select” button)(3) Press the “Dup./Combine” button(4) Press a “2-sided→2-sided” buttonIn the image forming apparatus 100 according to this example, it maybecome possible to reduce the work burden of the disabled using suchsettings as described in this example.

User Interface for the Disabled

An able-bodied person would copy the original by setting withoutchanging screens in an ordinary print setting or by setting by changingscreens once or twice in special print settings. However, the disabledmay have difficulty moving the hands, which means that the disabled mayhave difficulty selecting (pointing at) especially small buttons asshown in FIG. 3 as it is desired. Therefore, the image forming apparatus100 according to this embodiment of the present invention providesspecial screens for the disabled in addition to the screens forable-bodied persons, so that the disabled may easily set the copyingconditions and the like in using the image forming apparatus 100.

FIGS. 4A through 4C shows an example of the transition of the screens ofthe image forming apparatus 100 provided for the disabled. To go intothe screen (mode) for the disabled, a predetermined special operationsuch as prolonged button pressing (pressing and holding the button for apredetermined time period) is performed. For example, by performing ofthe special operation by a user who uses the image forming apparatus100, the screen for the disabled as shown in FIG. 4A is displayed, sothat the disabled can more easily operate the image forming apparatus100.

In the image forming apparatus 100, as schematically illustrated inFIGS. 4A through 4C, moving buttons displayed on the liquid crystaldisplay section 12 move from the right to the left. Herein, the “movingbutton” refers to a button that indicate its setting item as shown inFIG. 3 and that moves as schematically illustrated in FIGS. 4A through4C as time passes.

In FIG. 4A, a moving “Copy” button 101 moves from the right to the leftin the uppermost area (first line) of the liquid crystal display section12. In the same manner, a moving “DocumentBox” button 102 moves from theright to the left with a little delay from the moving “Copy” button 101in the middle area (second line) of the liquid crystal display section12. Further, a moving “SEND” button 103 moves from the right to the leftwith a little delay from the moving “DocumentBox” button 102 in thelowermost area (third line) of the liquid crystal display section 12.

FIG. 4A shows a case where three moving buttons are simultaneouslydisplayed in the liquid crystal display section 12. However, the numberof moving buttons to be simultaneously displayed in the liquid crystaldisplay section 12 may be adequately determined in accordance with thesize of the liquid crystal display section 12 and the sizes of themoving buttons, or may be determined (set) by a user. For example, whenthe size of the liquid crystal display section 12 is not large enough todisplay all the selectable buttons (in this case, five buttons)simultaneously, a moving “PRINTER” button may move from the right to theleft in the uppermost area (first line) of the liquid crystal displaysection 12 with a little delay from the moving “SEND” button 103.Further, in this case, the moving “Scanner” button may move from theright to the left in the middle area (second line) of the liquid crystaldisplay section 12 with a little delay from the moving “PRINTER” button.

As described above, by slightly shifting the header positions of themoving buttons, it may become easier to prevent erroneous operations.Preferably, the header positions of the moving buttons may be shifted ina manner such that adjoining moving buttons do not overlap in thevertical direction of the liquid crystal display section 12. Namely,preferably, the header position in the vertical direction of the movingbutton is shifted to the right side of the tail end position in thevertical direction of the preceding moving button (when moving buttonsmove from the right to the left). However, the present invention is notlimited to this configuration. For example, the header positions of themoving buttons may be positioned at the same position in the verticaldirection of the liquid crystal display section 12. Further, the headerpositions of the moving buttons may be randomly positioned (determined)in the vertical direction of the liquid crystal display section 12.

By having the above configuration, the disabled may easily start settingconditions of the image forming apparatus 100 to use his/her desiredfunction by selecting the corresponding desired moving button(s). Inthis case, only selectable buttons are displayed; therefore, thedisabled may easily select his/her desired moving button from among alimited (reduced) number of choices (moving buttons) while waiting forat most two or three screens. Because of this feature, it may becomepossible for the disabled to prevent erroneous pressing or the like andimprove the usability of the image forming apparatus 100.

As illustrated in FIGS. 4A through 4C, when the disabled presses themoving “Copy” button 101, the screen control section 10 controlsdisplaying the screen shown in FIG. 4B. In this case, when the moving“Copy” button 101 is pressed, the screen control section 10 controlsdisplaying and move the moving buttons based on display data of themoving buttons and other necessary information acquired from the systemcontrol section 4.

In the left side of FIG. 4B, a moving “ColorDocument” button 104 movesfrom the right to the left in the uppermost area (first line) of theliquid crystal display section 12. In the same manner, a moving “Duplex”button 105 moves from the right to the left with a little delay from the“ColorDocument” button 104 in the second line of the liquid crystaldisplay section 12. Further, a moving “Finish” button 106 moves from theright to the left with a little delay from the moving “Duplex” button105 in the third line of the liquid crystal display section 12. Further,a moving “Back” button 107 moves from the right to the left with alittle delay from the moving “Finish” button 106 in the third line ofthe liquid crystal display section 12.

The moving “Back” button 107 in the left side of FIG. 4B is used to goback to the previous screen of FIG. 4A. The moving “Finish” button 106is used to let the image forming apparatus 100 know that the settings ofcopy conditions are completed. Preferably, these two buttons 106 and 107may be displayed in the respective same lines among all the screens.Further, these two buttons 106 and 107 are likely to be selected in anyscreen; therefore, these two buttons 106 and 107 may be displayed infixed positions (without being moved) of the liquid crystal displaysection 12. However, in the following screens in the figures, these twobuttons 106 and 107 may be omitted for simplification and explanatorypurposes.

Further, in addition to the moving “ColorDocument” button 104 and themoving “Duplex” button 105, to make it possible to select the size ofthe paper, a moving “Reduce/Enlarge” button 110, a moving “93%” button111, and an “Auto Reduce/Enlarge” button 112 are displayed and movedafter the moving “Back” button 107 as shown in the middle part of FIG.4B. Further, to make it possible to select the size of the paper, amoving “A4” button 113, a moving “B4” button, and a moving “A3” buttonsare displayed and moved as shown in the right side of FIG. 4B.

Further, in this case, the default setting of reducing/enlarging thesize is “Full size”, and the default setting of paper size to beselected is “Auto Paper Select”. Because of this default setting, thedisabled may complete the setting of copying conditions without settingthose conditions.

When some of the moving buttons shown in the screens of FIG. 4B areselected, the display of the moving buttons is reversed. On the otherhand, when some other moving buttons are selected, more detailedcorresponding setting screens are newly displayed. For example, when themoving “Duplex” button 105 or the moving “Reduce/Enlarge” button 110 ispressed, a more detailed corresponding setting screen is newlydisplayed.

FIG. 4C shows an exemplary screen displayed when the moving “Duplex”button 105 is pressed in the screen on the left side of FIG. 4B. Asshown in FIG. 4C, a moving “1 sided-42 sided” button 108 moves from theright to the left in the uppermost area (first line) of the liquidcrystal display section 12. In the same manner, a moving “2 sided→2sided” button 109 moves from the right to the left with a little delayfrom the moving “1 sided→2 sided” button 108 in the second line of theliquid crystal display section 12. Further, the moving “Back” button 107moves from the right to the left in the lowermost area of the liquidcrystal display section 12.

The moving “1 sided→2 sided” button 108 is used (pressed) to print dataon one side of the original papers onto both sides of the papers to beprinted; and the moving “2 sided→2 sided” button 109 is used (pressed)to print data on both sides of the original papers onto both sides ofthe papers to be printed, respectively, in the image forming apparatus100.

FIG. 5 shows an example of transition of the screens when the moving“Reduce/Enlarge” button 110 is selected (pressed). As shown in FIG. 5,when the moving “Reduce/Enlarge” button 110 is selected (pressed),moving “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 0” (numeric) buttons aredisplayed and moved in the liquid crystal display section 12. In thisfigure, for explanatory purposes, all of the 10 moving buttons aresimultaneously displayed in the liquid crystal display section 12.However, preferably, for example, only three moving (numeric) buttonsmay be arranged to be displayed at the same time, so that the disabledmay select the desired moving button more easily. In this case, forexample, when the disabled selects the numbers one by one, the selectednumbers are sequentially input into the Reduce/Enlarge box 116 in thelower left side of the liquid crystal display section 12 from thehundreds place. Further, when the disabled presses a moving “Clear”button 117, the numbers having been input in the Reduce/Enlarge box 116are cleared (reset). The default value set in the Reduce/Enlarge box 116is, for example, 100(%).

For example, to set the conditions to perform colored double-sidedprinting on A4-sided paper from a color original, the disabledsequentially may press the moving “Copy” button 101, the moving“ColorDocument” button 104, the moving “Duplex” button 105, and themoving “2 sided→2 sided” button 109. Therefore, by sequentiallyselecting the moving buttons moving in the screens, it may becomepossible to complete setting the same copying conditions that can be setby the able-bodied persons.

In FIGS. 4A through 4C and FIG. 5, a case is described where the movingbuttons are moved from the right to the left in the liquid crystaldisplay section 12. However, the present invention is not limited tothis configuration. For example, the moving buttons may be moved in thedirection from the left to the right, from the upper side to the lowerside, or from lower side to the upper side in the liquid crystal displaysection 12.

Further, only one moving button may be displayed in a single screen. Inthis case, the following moving button may be arranged to be displayedand moved in the same line where the touching (pressing) operation onthe preceding moving button by the disabled is detected. By displayingand moving the moving button in this way, it may become possible tominimize the workload of the operations for the disabled.

Functional Block

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary functional block diagram of the image formingapparatus 100. The same reference numerals are used for the same orequivalent elements shown in FIG. 1, and the description thereof may beomitted. The function of the system control section 4 is realized byexecuting a program by the CPU of the system control section 4. As shownin FIG. 6, the system control section 4 includes a moving buttonspecifying section 31 and a screen information acquisition section 32.

The operation display section 9 detects a position (touched position)where the touch panel integrated into the liquid crystal display section12 is touched (pressed). Then, the operation display section 9 transmitsthe information of the touched position (positional information) to thesystem control section 4. The moving button specifying section 31acquires this positional information, and specifies the moving buttonselected by the disabled based on the moving button displayed on theliquid crystal display section 12.

The screen control section 10 displays the screens described withreference to FIGS. 4 and 5 on the liquid crystal display section 12.More specifically, from the system control section 4, the screen controlsection 10 acquires the information indicating which of the hard keys11, the ten keys 13, or the moving keys is pressed. Then, based on theacquired information, the screen control section 10 determines thescreen to be displayed. However, alternatively, the system controlsection 4 may determine the screen to be displayed, and the screencontrol section 10 may follow the instruction from the system controlsection 4 to display the screen determined by the system control section4. In any of the cases, the screen control section 10 or the systemcontrol section 4 contains screen transition information depending onthe pressed hard keys 11 and moving buttons (i.e. information indicatingwhich screen is to be displayed next depending on the currentlydisplayed screen and the pressed key in the current screen).

When the screen to be displayed is determined, the screen controlsection 10 further acquires various information related to the displayand the function of the image forming apparatus 100 from the systemcontrol section 4. For example, such information includes a signalindicating the paper jam and malfunction, the size of the papers stackedin the paper tray, available options (e.g. staple, punch, and bindingunit) and the like.

The screen control section 10 generates a screen based on theinformation acquired from the system control section 4 and the displaydata. The display data required to generate the screen are stored in adisplay data DB 33. The display data DB 33 stores the data that areassociated with the screen to be displayed and that are used for formingthe moving buttons.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic example of the display data. The display datain FIG. 7 are for the “Screen A” which is used for the screen of FIG.4A. In FIG. 7, the button information identifies each moving buttondisplayed in the same screen and indicates the function of the button.The moving buttons 1, 2, and 3 of the button information correspond tothe first, second, and third lines of the screen when those buttons aredisplayed in the screen.

The frame shape information refers to file information representing theshape of the frame of the moving button using a predetermined format.

The character information is a character code or the like representingthe characters, symbols, and figures to be superimposed on the movingbutton. Alternatively, the frame shape information and the characterinformation may be integrally treated and stored in the bitmap format.

The positional information indicates the display position of the movingbutton. For example, the positional information may specify the pixelpositions in the vertical and lateral directions. For example, thepositional information indicates the initial values (positions) rightafter the screen is switched on (displayed).

The screen control section 10 displays the moving buttons in a mannersuch that the moving buttons start moving from the respective initialpositions and move at a predetermined moving speed. More specifically,every predetermined time cycle, the screen control section 10 determinesthe positions of the moving buttons based on the respective movingspeeds. By making the predetermined time cycle sufficiently short, thedisabled could see the moving buttons as if they are moving.

When the positions of the moving buttons are determined, the informationto display the screen can be generated. Namely, the positions of themoving buttons 1 through 3 are determined, the moving buttons 1 through3 being instantaneously displayed in the liquid crystal display section12 and including the characters to be displayed and the like. In thefollowing, this information is called “screen information”.

Whenever determining the positions of the moving buttons, the screencontrol section 10 transmits the respective screen information to theoperation display section 9. Based on the received screen information,the operation display section 9 displays the screen on the liquidcrystal display section 12.

Further, the screen control section 10 transmits the determinedpositional information of the moving buttons to the system controlsection 4. As a result, the moving button specifying section 31 of thesystem control section 4 specifies which moving button is pressed by thedisabled based on the positional information of the moving buttons whenthe moving button is pressed and the positional information of thetouched position acquired from the operation display section 9.

Operating Procedure

FIG. 8 is an exemplary flowchart showing a process of moving the movingbuttons and specifying the pressed moving button in the image formingapparatus 100.

The process of the flowchart in FIG. 8 starts when, for example, theimage forming apparatus 100 is operated to display the screen for thedisabled.

The screen control section 10 determines the positions of the movingbuttons (step S101). More specifically, in this step, the screeninformation acquisition section 32 of the system control section 4acquires the positional information of the moving buttons calculatedevery predetermined time cycle by the screen control section 10.Further, the screen control section 10 transmits the screen informationto the operation display section 9.

Based on the received screen information, the operation display section9 displays the screen on the liquid crystal display section 12 (stepS102). The display of the liquid crystal display section 12 is refreshed(updated) at its refresh rate. Therefore, if the refresh rate is shorterthan the predetermined time cycle, the display of the moving buttons maybe repeated without moving the positions of the moving buttons.

Next, the operation display section 9 detects whether the touch panel ispressed by the disabled (step S103). When determining that the pressingoperation on the touch panel is not detected (NO in step S103), it isassumed that the disabled is still waiting for the display of thedesired touch panel or is in the selecting (pressing) operation. In thiscase (NO in step S103), the screen control section 10 determines whetherthe predetermined time cycle has passed (step S104). When determiningthat the predetermined time cycle has not passed (NO in step S104), theprocess goes back to step S103, where the operation display section 9continues (repeats) to detect whether the touch panel is pressed.

When operation display section 9 does not detect that touch panel ispressed and the predetermined time cycle has passed (YES in step S104),the process goes back to step S101, so that the screen control section10 repeats the process from step S101. Namely, the screen controlsection 10 calculates the positions of the moving buttons again.

On the other hand, in step S103, when the pressing operation to thetouch panel is detected (YES in Step S103), the moving button specifyingsection 31 of the system control section 4 specifies the pressed movingbutton based on the positional information of the moving buttons and thepositional information indicating which position of the touch panel ispressed. When the pressed moving button is specified, the system controlsection 4 performs the process (function) corresponding to the pressedmoving button (step S105). For example, the system control section 4 maycause the screen control section 10 to determine the pressed button orscreen to be displayed next, or may cause the plotter 2 to perform theprint operation.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus 100 according to thisexample of this embodiment of the present invention, it may becomepossible for the disabled to set the same copying conditions as set bythe able-bodied person simply by sequentially selecting the necessary orselectable moving buttons displayed on the screen.

Second Example

In this second example, an image forming apparatus 100 is described inwhich the size of the moving button can be changed depending on thefrequency of use (use frequency) of the moving button. In this case, forexample, the moving button having been frequently used may be enlarged,so that the moving button can be found and pressed more easily. As aresult, it may become possible to improve the usability of the imageforming apparatus 100.

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary functional block diagram of the image formingapparatus 100 according to this example. The same reference numerals areused in FIG. 9 for the same or equivalent elements in FIG. 6, and thedescription thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 9, the system controlsection 4 further includes a selection button counting section 34 and acount table 35. The selection button counting section 34 counts thenumber of times the keys are pressed, and the counted numbers (values)are stored in the count table 35. More specifically, for example, theselection button counting section 34 accumulates the number of pressedtimes for each moving button in the past or in a predetermined timeperiod (e.g., one week or one month) in the past.

FIG. 10 schematically illustrates an example of the count table 35. Thisexample of FIG. 10 shows that the moving “Copy” button 101 has beenpressed “123 times”, the moving “DocumentBox” button 102 has beenpressed “2 times”, and the moving “SEND” button 103 has been pressed “7times”.

Further, preferably, the disabled may be identified by using his/her ICcard or the like, so that the counted values for each disabled can bestored in the count table 35.

The screen control section 10 reads the count table 35 from the systemcontrol section 4 every predetermined time period when generating thescreen information in a case where the power of the image formingapparatus 100 is turned ON or the image forming apparatus 100 isoperated so as to display the screen for the disabled. Then, the screencontrol section 10 determines the sizes of the frame and the charactersof the moving buttons based on the previously stored informationregarding the relationship between the number of pressed times and thesizes.

FIG. 11A is an example of the table showing the relationship between thenumber of pressed times and the corresponding sizes. This example ofFIG. 11A shows that the number of pressed times in a range from 0 to 5corresponds to a “small” size; the number of pressed times in a rangefrom 6 to 10 corresponds to a “medium” size; and the number of pressedtimes equal to or more than 11 corresponds to a “large” size. In thisexample, the sizes are classified into three categories. However, forexample, more than three categories may be used. Further, the ranges ofthe number of pressed times described in FIG. 11A are one example only.

FIG. 11B shows an example of display data. In FIG. 11B, the same termsand symbols are used for the same or equivalent terms and symbols inFIG. 7, and the description thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 11B,the data of the frame shape information corresponding to the sizes“small”, “medium”, and “large” are stored in this display data.Similarly, the data of the character information corresponding to thesizes “small”, “medium”, and “large” are also stored in this displaydata. By having the data in this way, it becomes possible to select themoving buttons having any of small, medium, and large size frame.Further, it becomes possible to display the character (e.g. “Copy”)having (using) any of small, medium, and large sizes (font sizes).Further, the data of the positional information may further be storedfor each of the sizes.

FIG. 12 is an exemplary flowchart showing a process of moving the movingbuttons and the specifying the pressed moving button in the imageforming apparatus 100. In FIG. 12, the same step numbers are used forthe same steps as those in FIG. 8.

First, the screen control section 10 reads the number of pressed timesfrom the count table 35, the number having been counted in the past foreach moving button included in the screen to be displayed. Then, thescreen control section 10 determines the size of each of the movingbuttons (step S90). Namely, the screen control section 10 determines(specifies) the size of each of the moving buttons by referring to atable as shown in FIG. 11A using the corresponding number of pressedtimes. Then, the screen control section 10 refers to the display data asshown in FIG. 11B to read (derive) the frame shape information and thecharacter information of each of the moving buttons corresponding to thedetermined sizes of the moving buttons.

For example, according to the count table 35 of FIG. 10 and therelationship between the number of pressed times and the sizes shown inFIG. 11A, the size of the moving “Copy” button 101 (pressed 123 times)is determined to be “large”; the size of the moving “DocumentBox” button102 (pressed 2 times) is determined to be “small”; and the size of themoving “SEND” button 103 (pressed 7 times) is determined to be “medium”.

After determining (specifying) the sizes, the screen control section 10determines the positions of the moving buttons (step S101). Morespecifically, the screen control section 10 calculates the positionalinformation (positions) of the moving buttons every predetermined timecycle. Then, the screen control section 10 generates the screeninformation indicating that the moving buttons having the specifiedsizes are formed on the positions in accordance with the calculatedpositional information.

Based on the process described above, the operation display section 9displays the screen on the liquid crystal display section 12 (stepS102). The processes of steps S103 to S105 in FIG. 12 are the same asthose in the first example, and their repeated description is omitted.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary screen displayed on the liquid crystaldisplay section 12. As shown in FIG. 13, the moving “Copy” button 101(pressed 123 times) is displayed in “large” size; the moving“DocumentBox” button 102 is displayed in “small” size; and the moving“SEND” button 103 is displayed in “medium” size. As described above, themoving “Copy” button 101 having been frequently used (pressed) isdisplayed in “large” size. Therefore, the moving “Copy” button 101 canbe found more easily. Further, the moving “Copy” button 101 can bepressed more easily by the disabled.

As described above, by using the image forming apparatus 100 accordingto this second example, it may become possible to further improve theusability and operability of the image forming apparatus 100 for thedisabled.

Third Example

In this third example, an image forming apparatus 100 is described inwhich the moving speed of the moving button can be changed depending onthe frequency of use of the moving button. For example, by decreasingthe moving speed of the moving button which has been frequently selected(slow mode), the disabled may press the moving button more securely. Onthe other hand, by increasing the moving speed of the moving buttonwhich has been frequently selected (fast mode), the disabled maycomplete the setting in a shorter time period. Which mode can beselected (set) can be set in this image forming apparatus 100. Inpractical use, for example, it may be preferable that the slow mode isselected when a severely disabled person mainly uses the image formingapparatus 100 and the fast mode is selected when a slightly disabledperson mainly uses the image forming apparatus 100. In the followingdescription, the slow mode is mainly described.

Further, the functional block diagram and the counter table used in thisexample are the same as those used in the above second example;therefore their repeated description is omitted.

FIG. 14 is an example of a table stored in the screen control section10, and the table includes the information regarding the relationshipbetween the number of pressed times and the moving speed (speed) of themoving button. This example of FIG. 14 shows that the number of pressedtimes in a range from 0 to 5 corresponds to a “fast” speed; the numberof pressed times in a range from 6 to 10 corresponds to a “medium”speed; and the number of pressed times equal to or more than 11corresponds to a “slow” speed. In this example, the moving speed isclassified into three levels. However, for example, more than threelevels may be used. Further, the ranges of the number of pressed timesdescribed in FIG. 14 are one example only.

In this third example, the display data the same as those used in theabove second example may be used. In the above first example, the movingspeed of the moving buttons are the same as each other. However, in thisthird example, the screen control section 10 specifies speed informationof the moving buttons, and calculates the positions of the movingbuttons based on the specified speed information.

In this case, the screen control section 10 previously determines, forexample, a moving amount (distance) per time cycle associated with thecorresponding speed information. By doing this, it may become possibleto reduce the calculation amount when determining the positions of themoving buttons every predetermined time cycle.

FIG. 15 is an exemplary flowchart showing a process of moving the movingbuttons and specifying the pressed moving button in the image formingapparatus 100. In FIG. 15, the same step numbers are used for the samesteps as those in FIG. 8.

First, the screen control section 10 reads the number of pressed timesfrom the count table 35, the number of pressed times having been countedin the past for each moving button included in the screen to bedisplayed. Then the screen control section 10 determines the movingspeeds of the moving buttons (step S80). Namely, the screen controlsection 10 determines (specifies) the moving speeds of the movingbuttons by referring to a table as shown in FIG. 14 using thecorresponding numbers of pressed times.

For example, according to the count table 35 of FIG. 10 and therelationship between the number of pressed times and the speedinformation shown in FIG. 14, the moving speed of the moving “Copy”button 101 (pressed 123 times) is determined to be “slow”; the movingspeed of the moving “DocumentBox” button 102 (pressed 2 times) isdetermined to be “fast”; and the moving speed of the moving “SEND”button 103 (pressed 7 times) is determined to be “medium”.

After determining (specifying) the speed information, the screen controlsection 10 determines the positions of the moving buttons (step S101).More specifically, the screen control section 10 calculates thepositional information (positions) of the moving buttons everypredetermined time cycle. Then, the screen control section 10 generatesthe screen information indicating that the moving buttons are formed onthe positions in accordance with the calculated positional information.

Based on the generated screen information, the operation display section9 displays the screen on the liquid crystal display section 12 (stepS102).

FIG. 16A is an example of the screen displayed on the liquid crystaldisplay section 12. More specifically, FIG. 16A shows three movingbuttons displayed right after the screen is displayed (Namely, FIG. 16Ashows the positions of those moving buttons in the initial condition).Further, the length of the arrows of the moving buttons in FIG. 16Aschematically represents the moving speed of the moving buttons. Thearrows are not actually displayed in the screen on the liquid crystaldisplay section 12. The longer the length of the arrow of the movingbutton is, the faster the moving button moves. Therefore, in the exampleof FIG. 16A, the following inequality is satisfied. Moving speed ofmoving “Copy” button 101<Moving speed of moving “SEND” button 103<Movingspeed of moving “DocumentBox” button 102

(i.e., Moving Speed Increases in this Order)

Because of the difference of the moving speed, whenever the time cyclehas passed (whenever the process passes step S101), the moving“DocumentBox” button 102 moves further in the left direction than themoving “SEND” button 103 and the moving “Copy” button 101 move.

FIG. 16B is an example of the screen displayed on the liquid crystaldisplay section 12. More specifically, FIG. 16B shows the screenincluding the three moving buttons after a certain time period haspassed since the timing of the screen in FIG. 16A. Because of this timedifference, the header (left end) position of the moving “DocumentBox”button 102 in the lateral direction is approaching that of the moving“Copy” button 101.

According to this third example, the moving speed of the moving buttoncan be increased or decreased depending on the frequency of selecting(using) the moving button. Because of this feature, it may becomepossible to improve the usability of the image forming apparatus 100 forthe disabled.

Further, the technical feature of this third example may be combinedwith that of the second example. Namely, for example, the moving buttonthat has been frequently used may be arranged to move more slowly and tohave a larger size.

Fourth Example

In this fourth example, an image forming apparatus 100 is described inwhich the color of the moving button can be changed depending on thefrequency of use of the moving button. Namely, by using a moreeye-catching color for the moving button having been frequently used, itmay become possible to find the moving button having been frequentlyused more easily. As a result, it may become possible to improve theusability of the image forming apparatus 100.

Further, the functional block diagram and the counter table used in thisexample are the same as those used in the above second example;therefore their repeated description is omitted.

FIG. 17 is an example of a table stored in the screen control section10, and the table includes the information regarding the relationshipbetween the number of pressed times and the corresponding colors of themoving button (color information). This example of FIG. 17 shows thatthe number of pressed times in a range from 0 to 5 corresponds to a“gray” color; the number of pressed times in a range from 6 to 10corresponds to a “black” color; and the number of pressed times equal toor more than 11 corresponds to a “red” color. In this example, the colorinformation is classified into three colors. However, for example, morethan three colors may be used. Further, the ranges of the number ofpressed times described in FIG. 17 are one example only.

In this fourth example, the display data same as those used in the abovesecond example may be used. In this fourth example, the screen controlsection 10 reflects the color information specified in FIG. 17 on atleast one of the frame shape information and the character information.More specifically, when the specified color information is gray, thescreen control section 10 sets the pixel values of the pixels of atleast one of the frame shape information and the character informationas (R,G,B)=(128,128,128). When the specified color information is black,the screen control section 10 sets the pixel values of the pixels of atleast one of the frame shape information and the character informationas (R,G,B)=(0,0,0). When the specified color information is red, thescreen control section 10 sets the pixel values of the pixels of atleast one of the frame shape information and the character informationas (R,G,B)=(255,0,0).

FIG. 18 is an exemplary flowchart showing a process of moving the movingbuttons and specifying the pressed moving button in the image formingapparatus 100. In FIG. 18, the same step numbers are used for the samesteps as those in FIG. 8.

First, the screen control section 10 reads the number of pressed timesfrom the count table 35, the number of pressed times having been countedin the past for each moving button included in the screen to bedisplayed. Then, the screen control section 10 determines the colors ofthe respective moving buttons (step S70). Namely, the screen controlsection 10 determines (specifies) the colors of the respective movingbuttons by referring to a table as shown in FIG. 17 using thecorresponding numbers of pressed times.

For example, according to the count table 35 of FIG. 10 and therelationship between the number of pressed times and the colorinformation (color) shown in FIG. 17, the color information of themoving “Copy” button 101 (pressed 123 times) is determined to be “red”;the color information of the moving “DocumentBox” button 102 (pressed 2times) is determined to be “gray”; and the color information of themoving “SEND” button 103 (pressed 7 times) is determined to be “black”.

After determining (specifying) the color information, the screen controlsection 10 determines the positions of the moving buttons (step S101).More specifically, the screen control section 10 calculates thepositional information (positions) of the moving buttons everypredetermined time cycle. Then, the screen control section 10 generatesthe screen information indicating that the moving buttons are formed onthe positions in accordance with the calculated positional informationusing the pixel values of the respective specified colors.

Based on the generated screen information, the operation display section9 displays the screen on the liquid crystal display section 12 (stepS102).

FIG. 19 is an example of the screen displayed on the liquid crystaldisplay section 12. More specifically, FIG. 19 shows that the moving“Copy” button 101 is displayed in red; the moving “DocumentBox” button102 is displayed in gray; and the moving “SEND” button 103 is displayedin black. In this case, the moving button having been used lessfrequency is displayed in achromatic color and the moving button havingbeen used more frequency is displayed in chromatic color. Because ofusing different colors as described above, it may become easier tovisually recognize and press the moving button having been usedfrequently.

According to this fourth example, it may become easier to find themoving button that is thought to be pressed more frequently in thefeature. Because of this feature, it may become possible to improve theusability of the image forming apparatus 100 for the disabled.

Further, the technical feature of this fourth example may be combinedwith at least one of the technical features of the second and the thirdexamples. When those technical features of the second, the third, andthe fourth examples are combined, the moving button that has beenfrequently used is arranged to move more slowly, have a larger size anddisplay in red color.

Fifth Example

In this fifth example, an image forming apparatus 100 is described inwhich the moving button can be selected by using the ten keys 13 aswell. When the disabled presses the moving button, it may be required tosynchronize the operations of his/her hand with the movement of themoving button. However, the ten keys 13 would not move (change) theirpositions on the operation display section 9. Therefore, when the tenkeys 13 can be used, it may become possible to reduce error in operationand improve the usability of the image forming apparatus 100 for thedisabled.

FIG. 20 shows an exemplary functional block diagram of the image formingapparatus 100 according to this fifth example. The same referencenumerals are used in FIG. 20 for the same or equivalent elements in FIG.6, and the description thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 20, in theimage forming apparatus 100 according to this fifth example, theoperation display section 9 transmits number information to the movingbutton specifying section 31, the number information indicating thenumber input via the ten keys 13. Herein, the number informationindicates which (0-9,#,*) of the ten keys 13 is pressed.

Further, in this example, the screen control section 10 controlsdisplaying the moving button with the number (FIG. 23). To that end, thedisplay data include the number information.

FIG. 21 shows an example of display data. In FIG. 21, the same terms andsymbols are used for the same or equivalent terms and symbols in FIG. 7,and their description is omitted. As shown in FIG. 21, the display datainclude the number information associated with the corresponding movingbuttons. The screen control section 10 transmits the number informationassociated with the corresponding moving buttons to the screeninformation acquisition section 32 of the system control section 4. Themoving button specifying section 31 specifies the setting item (movingbutton) having been selected by the disabled based on the numberinformation and the function of the moving button which are acquiredfrom the screen control section 10 and also based on the numberinformation acquired from the operation display section 9.

Further, when generating the shape of the moving button, the screencontrol section 10 arranges (places) the number information at theheader portion of the character information so as to be displayed as “1Copy”, “2 DocumentBox”, and “3 SEND” as shown in FIG. 21. Therefore, themoving buttons displayed on the liquid crystal display section 12 havetheir corresponding numbers. As a result, the disabled may more easilyunderstand which of the ten keys 13 is to be pressed to select thedesired moving button.

FIG. 22 is an exemplary flowchart showing a process of moving the movingbuttons and the specifying the pressed moving button in the imageforming apparatus 100.

The process of the flowchart in FIG. 22 starts when, for example, theimage forming apparatus 100 is operated to display the screen for thedisabled.

The screen control section 10 determines the positions of the movingbuttons (step S101). More specifically, in this step, the screeninformation acquisition section 32 of the system control section 4acquires the positional information of the moving buttons calculatedevery predetermined time cycle by the screen control section 10.Further, the screen control section 10 transmits the screen informationto the operation display section 9, the screen information including thenumber information to be displayed at the header of the characterinformation of the corresponding moving buttons.

Based on the received screen information, the operation display section9 displays the screen on the liquid crystal display section 12 (stepS102).

FIG. 23 shows an example of the screen displayed on the liquid crystaldisplay section 12. As shown in FIG. 23, the numbers derived from thenumber information are arranged (displayed) in the respective movingbuttons.

Referring back to FIG. 22, the operation display section 9 determineswhether the any of the ten keys 13 or the touch panel is pressed by thedisabled (step S1031). When determining that the neither the ten keys 13nor the touch panel is pressed (NO in step S1031), it is assumed thatthe disabled is still waiting for the display of the desired movingbutton or is in a selecting (pressing) operation. In this case (NO instep S1031), the screen control section 10 determines whether thepredetermined time cycle has passed (step S104). When determining thatthe predetermined time cycle has not passed (NO in step S104), theprocess goes back to step S1031, where the operation display section 9continues (repeats) to determine whether any of the ten keys 13 or thetouch panel is pressed.

When operation display section 9 detects no pressing operation to themoving button or the ten keys and the predetermined time cycle haspassed (YES in step S104), the process goes back to step S101, so thatthe screen control section 10 repeats the process from step S101.Namely, the screen control section 10 calculates the positions of themoving buttons again.

On the other hand, in step S1031, when the pressing any of the ten keys13 or the touch panel is detected (YES in Step S1031), the moving buttonspecifying section 31 of the system control section 4 specifies thepressed (selected) moving button based on, for example, the numberinformation of the moving buttons and the number information specifiedby the pressing operation of the ten keys 13. When the pressed movingbutton is specified, the system control section 4 performs the process(function) corresponding to the pressed moving button (step S105).

According to this example, the ten keys in addition to the touch panelare used to select the desired moving button. Because of allowing thedisabled to use the ten keys 13 in addition to the touch panel, it maybecome possible to reduce error in operation and improve the usabilityof the image forming apparatus 100 for the disabled.

Further, the technical feature of this fifth example may be combinedwith at least one of the technical features of the second, the third,and the fourth examples.

Sixth Example

In the above examples, the screens for the disabled and the screens forthe able-bodied person can be switched by operating (switching) theimage forming apparatus 100 by, for example, the able-bodied person. Inthis sixth example, however, the image forming apparatus 100automatically displaying the screen for the disabled when the disabledattempts to use the image forming apparatus 100 is described.

FIG. 24 shows an exemplary functional block diagram of the image formingapparatus 100 according to this sixth example. The same referencenumerals are used in FIG. 24 for the same or equivalent elements in FIG.6, and the description thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 24, in theimage forming apparatus 100 according to this sixth example, the systemcontrol section 4 further includes an authentication section 36 and aswitching section 37. The authentication section 36 previously storesdisabled information. The disabled information is associated with useridentification information of the users, and therefore is theinformation indicating whether each of the users is a disabled or anable-bodied person. To authenticate (identify) the user, the user inputshis/her identification information (typically a user name) and password.Otherwise, an IC card may be used. In this case, for example, the usermay hold the IC card over the IC card reader (not shown) connected tothe image forming apparatus 100.

The authentication section 36 determines whether there is consistencybetween the identification information and the password input by theuser. When determining that there is consistency between theidentification information and the password, the authentication section36 further determines whether the user is a disable or an able-bodiedperson based on the disabled information. Then, the authenticationsection 36 transmits the determination result to the switching section37. Based on the determination result, the switching section 37 switches(displays) the screen for either the disabled or the screen for anable-bodied person.

By doing in this way, only when the user is disabled having difficultymoving his/her hands, the screen for the disabled (i.e., the screen inwhich the moving buttons are provided) is displayed. As a result, it maybecome possible to properly switch the screen depending on whether theuser is a disabled or an able-bodied person, thereby enabling improvingthe usability of the image forming apparatus 100 for the users.

FIG. 25 is an exemplary flowchart showing a process of switching thescreen depending on whether the user is a disabled or an able-bodiedperson in the image forming apparatus 100. The process shown in FIG. 25is applied when, for example, a user starts operating the image formingapparatus 100.

In this case, first, the user operates the operation display section 9to input his/her identification information and password. Based on theidentification information and the password, the authentication section36 determines whether the user is authenticated. When determining thatthe user is authenticated, the authentication section 36 specifies(identifies) the user (step S210).

Based on the specification result of the user, the authenticationsection 36 refers to the disabled information and determines whether theuser is an able-bodied person or a disabled person (step S220).

When determining that the user is an able-bodied person (NO in stepS220), the system control section 4 causes the screen control section 10to display the screens for an able-bodied person (step S240). On theother hand, when determining that the user is disabled (YES in stepS220), the system control section 4 causes the screen control section 10to display the screens for the disabled (step S230).

According to this sixth example, an appropriate screen may beautomatically displayed depending on whether the user is a disabled oran able-bodied person. By having this feature, it may become possible toimprove the usability of the image forming apparatus 100 for thedisabled and an able-bodied person. Further, this technical feature ofthis sixth example may be combined at least one of the technicalfeatures of the first through the fifth examples.

Second Embodiment Seventh Example

In the following, a seventh example of a second embodiment of thepresent invention is described. In the seventh example, a selectionframe 51 is moved step by step through plural regions of the liquidcrystal display section 12 (FIG. 34).

FIG. 26 shows an exemplary functional block diagram of the image formingapparatus 100 according to this seventh example. The same referencenumerals are used in FIG. 26 for the same or equivalent elements in FIG.6, and the description thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 26, theimage forming apparatus 100 according to this sixth example includes theoperation display section 9, the screen control section 10, and aposition detecting section 41. The screen control section 10 includes aregion dividing processing section 42 and a repositioning processingsection 43. Further, the screen control section 10 is in connection withan apparatus setting information DB (Data Base) 44 and a screenconfiguration information DB 45.

Similar to the first embodiment described above, the operation displaysection 9 includes the liquid crystal display section 12 to displayvarious screens. In this example, the screen control section 10 performsscreen control to display various screens including a screen in whichthe selection frame 51 moves. The details of the selection frame 51 aredescribed below.

The apparatus setting information DB (Database) 44 and the screenconfiguration information DB 45 are stored into a flash memory, a RAM orthe like. As shown in FIG. 26, the screen configuration information DB45 includes (stores) screen configuration information 452, dividedregion information 453, button positioning region information 454, andrepositioned button information 455. On the other hand, the apparatussetting information DB 44 includes (stores) apparatus configurationrestriction information 441, user use restriction information 442, anddivision setting information 443.

The region dividing processing section 42 reads the division settinginformation 443 from the apparatus setting information DB 44. Then, forexample, the region dividing processing section 42 determines thecoordinates of the divided regions to divide the screen.

On the other hand, the repositioning processing section 43 acquires theinformation from the position detecting section 41, the informationindicating whether the hand of the user is touched (placed on the touchpanel). Then, the repositioning processing section 43 further acquiresbutton IDs of the buttons displayed in the selection frame 51. Then, therepositioning processing section 43 updates (changes) the positions(coordinate values) of the buttons, so that the buttons displayed in theselection frame 51 are repositioned and displayed in a position (region)where the hand is touched (placed) (FIGS. 35A and 35B).

The position detecting section 41 monitors (determines) whether the handis touched (placed) on the touch panel of the liquid crystal displaysection 12. When determining (detecting) that the hand is touched, theposition detecting section 41 acquires the position (coordinateposition) information from the operation display section 9. In thiscase, from the screen control section 10, the position detecting section41 further acquires a Divided region ID of a divided region 52 where theselection frame 51 is positioned (located) when the hand is touched tohe touch panel.

FIG. 27 is an example of the setting screen where a user sets dividingconditions of the screen (screen dividing conditions). This setting maybe called “disabled mode display setting”. This setting screen isdisplayed when, for example, an able-bodied person performs apredetermined operation on the image forming apparatus 100. Also, todisplay this setting screen, the disabled may perform a predeterminedoperation on the image forming apparatus 100. In this setting screen forsetting the screen dividing conditions, a user sets the screen dividingconditions by setting in a “Division/No Division” setting field 201(determining whether the screen is to be divided), a “function” settingfield 202, a “button No” setting field 203, and a “divided No” settingfield 204.

To divide the screen into plural regions (i.e., to activate thetechnical feature of this seventh example), it is required to select“Divided” in the “Division/No Division” setting field 201. When “Nodivision” is selected in this setting field, the screen is not dividedinto regions. By selecting “Divided” in this field, the “disabled mode”is set (activated).

In the “function” setting field 202, a user can determine whether thescreens are to be divided for each of the functions of the image formingapparatus 100 such as “Copy”, “DocumentBox”, “SEND”, “PRINTER”,“Scanner” and the like. When a user selects “each function” in thisfield, the user can set (display) the divided regions 52 in each settingscreen of the functions. In this case, the setting screens of therespective functions are separately displayed (not shown).

In the “button No” setting field 203, a user can set the number ofbuttons to be displayed in each single region. In this case, forexample, a user may input a number using the ten keys 13 (1-9). Based onthe number set by the user in this setting field, the region dividingprocessing section 42 divides the screen into regions in a manner suchthat the regions include the same number of buttons as set in thecorresponding setting fields. In some cases, the number of buttons maynot be evenly divided by the number of regions. In such cases, in someof the regions, the number of the buttons is less than the number set inthis setting field. For example, a number “3” is set, the regiondividing processing section 42 divides the screen into regions so thateach region includes three (3) or less (typically 2) buttons.

In the “divided No” setting field 204, a user can set a desired numberof the regions in a screen by selecting one of the provided choices. Forexample, the choices include “3 (vertical) by 3 (lateral)” and “1(vertical) by 2 (lateral)”. In this case, when, for example, “3 by 3” isselected in this setting field, the screen is divided into nine regionsin a manner such that there are three regions in the vertical directionand there are also three regions in the lateral direction (FIG. 33).

In this setting screen for the screen dividing conditions, when a usersets the “button No” setting field 203, the setting of the “divided No”setting field 204 become invalid, and vice versa.

When a user finishes the setting in this setting screen and presses theOK button 205 in the setting screen, the setting conditions set in thesetting screen (screen dividing conditions) are stored in the apparatussetting information DB 44 as the division setting information 443.

FIG. 28A shows an example of the division setting information 443. FIG.28A shows a case where screen dividing conditions are set not based onthe “button No” but based on the “divided No”. As shown in FIG. 28A, thedivision setting information 443 includes the items “dividing condition”in addition to the “Divided No” and the “button No”. In the case of FIG.28A, data “Area”, “9”, and “-(none)” are stored as the data of the“dividing condition”, “Divided No” and “button No”, respectively; andwhich means that the regions of the screen are determined based on thecalculation that the “Area” of the screen is divided by “9”.

As described above, in addition to the division setting information 443,the apparatus setting information DB 44 further includes (stores) theapparatus configuration restriction information 441 and the user userestriction information 442. Based on the apparatus configurationrestriction information 441, for example, some buttons are set invalidand are not displayed, the buttons corresponding to devices which arenot mounted in the image forming apparatus 100.

FIG. 28B shows an example of the apparatus configuration restrictioninformation 441. As shown in FIG. 28B, the apparatus configurationrestriction information 441 includes the items “Device”, “Status”, and“No display item”. This example of FIG. 28B shows that the informationindicating that the device “Finisher” is not mounted is stored. Further,“staple/punch” is stored as the data of “No display item” in the samerow where “Finisher” and “Not mounted” are stored. This explains thatthe apparatus configuration restriction information 441 stores theinformation indicating that the buttons related to the “Staple/punch”are not displayed in the screen when the “Finisher” is “Not mounted”. Inthe same manner, the apparatus configuration restriction information 441stores the information indicating that the buttons related to the “SADF”are not displayed in the screen when the “ADF” is “Not mounted”, andthat the buttons related to the “Manual tray” are not displayed in thescreen when the “Manual tray” is “Not mounted”.

FIG. 28C shows an example of the user use restriction information 442.As shown in FIG. 28C, the user use restriction information 442 includesthe items “User name”, “Function (Device)”, “Application userestriction”, and “Use restriction item”. By appropriately setting theitems, it becomes possible to restrict the use of all or part of thefunctions of the image forming apparatus 100 for each user. The exampleof FIG. 28C shows that the user “A” can use the monochrome copy functionamong all the copy functions; the user “A” can use all the facsimilefunctions; and the user “A” cannot use any of the scanner functions. Thescreen control section 10 controls so that the buttons corresponding tothe functions that cannot be used based on the settings in those“Application use restriction”, and “Use restriction item” items are notdisplayed in the screens.

When there is a button in the divided regions 52, the buttoncorresponding to the functions that cannot be used based on theapparatus configuration restriction information 441 or based on the userestriction information 442, the region dividing processing section 42restricts the display of the button. Though the details are describedbelow, the region dividing processing section 42 reports to the screencontrol section 10 that there is a button corresponding to the functionsthat cannot be used. In this case, the screen control section 10controls so as not to display the button. Further, when there is adivided region 52 in which there is no button that can be used (i.e.,there is no button displayed therein), the screen control section 10controls the movement of the selection frame 51 in a manner such thatthe selection frame 51 skips (does not move onto) the divided region 52.

Next, the screen configuration information 452 for generating the screeninformation is described.

FIG. 29 shows an example of the screen configuration information 452stored in the screen configuration information DB 45. As shown in FIG.29, the screen configuration information 452 includes the items “ButtonID”, “Setting item”, “Function name”, and “Coordinates (X,Y)”. The item“Button ID” indicates the button to be displayed in a predeterminedscreen. The item “Setting item” indicates the characters to be displayedin the corresponding button. The item “Function name” indicates thefunction of the corresponding button. The item “Coordinates (X,Y)”designates the position (e.g. upper left corner position) of thecorresponding button.

The screen control section 10 reads out the screen configurationinformation 452 for each screen to be displayed, forms the characters ofthe setting item inside the frame of the corresponding button, andplaces the button at the position designated by the coordinates (X,Y).By performed the above processes on all the button IDs, a screen such asshown in FIG. 3 can be generated and displayed.

Based on the division setting information 443, the region dividingprocessing section 42 determines the coordinate values of the dividedregions 52 divided in the screen. When the coordinate values of thedivided regions 52 are determined, the coordinates of the dividedregions 52 can be accordingly determined.

FIG. 30 shows an example of the divided region information 453 includingthe coordinate values of the divided regions 52. As shown in FIG. 30,divided region information 453 includes the items “Divided region ID”,“Coordinates (X1, Y1)”, and “Coordinates (X2, Y2)”. The item “Dividedregion ID” is the information that is used to uniquely identify thecorresponding divided region 52 in at least a certain screen. Forexample, when a screen is divided into nine divided regions 52, the“Divided region IDs” may be “Part1” through “Part9”. The items“Coordinates (X1, Y1)” and “Coordinates (X2, Y2)” of the Part1 throughPart9 represent the coordinates of the respective divided regions 52.For example, the item “Coordinates (X1, Y1)” indicates the coordinatevalue at the upper left corner, and the item “Coordinates (X2, Y2)”indicates the coordinate value at the lower right corner of thecorresponding buttons.

As described above, when the divided region information 453 is obtained(determined), the buttons included in the divided regions 52 can bespecified. In this case, the region dividing processing section 42 readsout the coordinates (X,Y) of the buttons from the screen configurationinformation 452 of FIG. 29, and compares the coordinates (X,Y) in thescreen configuration information 452 with the coordinates (X1, Y1) andthe coordinates (X2, Y2) in the divided region information 453 of FIG.30. More specifically, the region dividing processing section 42determines whether the coordinates (X,Y) position of the button ID isincluded in a rectangular area (formed) defined by the coordinates (X1,Y1) and the coordinates (X2, Y2) position. When determining that thecoordinates (X,Y) of the button ID is included in a rectangular area(divided region 52) defined by the coordinates (X1, Y1) and thecoordinates (X2, Y2), the region dividing processing section 42 furtherdetermines that the button is included in the divided region 52. Then,the region dividing processing section 42 associates the button ID ofthe button with the divided region ID of the divided region 52.

FIG. 31 shows an example of the button positioning region information454 in which the “button IDs” are associated with the corresponding“Divided region IDs”. As shown in FIG. 31, the button positioning regioninformation 454 includes the items “Button ID” and “Divided region ID”.Namely, the “Divided region ID” associated with the “Button ID” isstored (registered).

Because of this feature, by referring to the button positioning regioninformation 454, the screen control section 10 can determine whichbutton is included in which divided region 52.

Operating Procedure

FIG. 32 is an exemplary flowchart showing the procedure from selectingthe “Divided” in the setting screen of the dividing conditions togenerating the button positioning region information 454.

First, the screen control section 10 determines whether the “disabledmode” is set (activated) (step S310). As described above, by selectingthe “Divided” in the “Division/No Division” setting field 201 of thesetting screen (FIG. 27), the “disabled mode” can be set (activated).

When determining that the “disabled mode” is not set (NO in step S310),the screen control section 10 displays a screen for an able-bodiedperson as shown in FIG. 3 using the screen configuration information 452of FIG. 29 (step S370). In this case, the user sets the dividingconditions in the setting screen of the dividing conditions. Therefore,the division setting information 443 is stored in the apparatus settinginformation DB 44.

On the other hand, when determining that the “disabled mode” is set (YESin step S310), the region dividing processing section 42 reads out thedivision setting information 443 in the apparatus setting information DB44 (step S320).

Based on the division setting information 443, the region dividingprocessing section 42 performs a region dividing process to divide thescreen (step S330). By performing this process, it becomes possible todetermine the coordinate values of the divided regions 52 and generatethe divided region information 453 of FIG. 30.

Next, the region dividing processing section 42 determines (specifies)which button having its button ID in the screen configurationinformation 452 is included in which divided region 52. Based on thisdetermination, the region dividing processing section 42 associates thebutton IDs with the corresponding Divided region IDs, and generates thebutton positioning region information 454 (step S340). The buttonpositioning region information 454 is stored in the screen configurationinformation DB 45.

Then, the region dividing processing section 42 transmits the dividedregion information 453 and the button positioning region information 454to the screen control section 10 so that the screen control section 10can use the information (step S350). To make it possible to use theinformation, specifically, the region dividing processing section 42stores the divided region information 453 and the button positioningregion information 454 in the screen configuration information DB 45.

The screen control section 10 divides the screen into the dividedregions 52 and displays the screen (step S360).

Example of Dividing the Screen

FIG. 33 is an example of a screen displayed by the screen controlsection 10. FIG. 33 shows a case where the area of the screen is dividedinto nine divided regions 52. The dotted lines in FIG. 33 are borders ofthe divided regions 52. However, the dotted lines may not be necessarydisplayed. This is because, in this embodiment the selection frame 51sequentially moves through the divided regions 52 (e.g., FIG. 34).Therefore, the disabled may not have to carefully watch the borders ofthe divided regions 52 during the operation. However, to display thedotted lines to be recognized, the screen control section 10 refers tothe divided region information 453, and changes the pixel values of theborders of the divided regions 52 so that the borders are displayed inred, black or the like.

Herein, the term “sequentially move(s)” refers to a moving mode in whichthe selection frame 51 is superimposed onto one of the divided regions52 for a predetermined time period (e.g., several seconds) and then, inthe next instant, the selection frame 51 is superimposed onto the nextdivided region 52, and above steps are repeated. However, alternatively,the selection frame 51 may gradually move through the divided regions 52similar to the moving buttons described in the above first embodiment ofthe present invention.

Further, the screen control section 10 refers to the divided regioninformation 453, and displays a frame (selection frame 51) havingsubstantially the same size as or a somewhat smaller size than that ofthe divided regions 52. The selection frame 51 sequentially movesthrough the divided regions 52. There are two moving modes. In onemoving mode, as described above, the selection frame 51 automaticallymoves to the next (adjoining) divided region 52 every predetermined timeperiod. In the other mode, the movement of the selection frame 51 to thenext (adjoining) divided region 52 is triggered when a press input(pressing operation) to the touch panel is detected. These two modes canbe switched based on, for example, the operation that a user presses andholds the touch panel for a certain time period and then releases thehold. The details of the switching operation are described below. Inthis case, the screen control section 10 receives the report from theoperation display section 9 that the user has performed the switchingoperation.

FIG. 34 schematically shows an example of a movement of the selectionframe 51. In the example of FIG. 34, the selection frame 51 sequentiallymoves from the upper left divided region 52 to the upper right dividedregion 52 (in the upper row), and sequentially moves to the middle rightdivided region 52. Then, the selection frame 51 sequentially moves fromthe middle right divided region 52 to the middle left divided region 52(in the middle row), and sequentially moves to the lower left dividedregion 52. Then, the selection frame 51 sequentially moves from thelower left divided region 52 to the lower right divided region 52 (inthe lower row), and sequentially moves (back) to the original upper leftdivided region 52.

However, it should be noted that the above-described movement withreference to FIG. 34 is one example only. For example, the selectionframe 51 sequentially moves in the order of the center (middle in themiddle row) divided region 52, the middle right divided region 52, thelower right divided region 52, the lower middle divided region 52, thelower left divided region 52, the middle left divided region 52, theupper left divided region 52, the upper middle divided region 52, theupper right divided region 52, and the center divided region 52 (i.e.,in a spiral pattern). By moving in this way, it may become possible tomore rapidly move the selection frame 51 to the divided region 52including a button that has been frequently pressed.

Button Selection using the Selection Frame 51

Next, a method is described of selecting a button when the selectionframe 51 sequentially (automatically) moves.

FIG. 35A shows an example of selecting a button using the selectionframe 51. In this example, as shown in FIG. 35A, the selection frame 51exists (is superimposed onto) the center (middle in the middle row)divided region 52. While the selection frame 51 exists in this position,when the disabled presses any part of the touch panel, the positiondetecting section 41 detects that the touch panel is pressed. In themeantime, from the screen control section 10, the position detectingsection 41 acquires the Divided region ID of the divided region 52 wherethe selection frame 51 exists exactly when the touch panel is pressed.

In this example, as schematically shown in FIG. 35A, when the touchpanel is pressed, the selection frame 51 exists in the center dividedregion 52. Therefore, the position detecting section 41 acquires, forexample, the “Part 5” as the Divided region ID of the divided regioninformation 453 in FIG. 30. In this method, simply by touching any partof the touch panel, the disabled can specify the divided region 52. Inthis case, since the disabled can touch any part of the touch panel, itmay become possible to improve the usability of the image formingapparatus 100 when compared with a case where the disabled has to pressa specified part of the touch panel. Further, in this method, thedisabled is allowed to touch any part of the touch panel. However,needless to say, the disabled may touch the exact divided region 52where the selection frame 51 exists.

Divided Region where the Selection Frame 51 Skips

The screen control section 10 may exclude a button that cannot beselected, so that the button cannot be selected by the disabled. Herein,the term “exclude” refers to not moving the selection frame 51 onto thedivided region 52 containing only buttons that cannot be selected, ornot repositioning the buttons that cannot be selected in the process ofrepositioning. The details of repositioning the buttons are describedbelow.

As described above, the region dividing processing section 42 can referto the configuration restriction information 441 and the user userestriction information 442. Accordingly, based on at least one of theconfiguration restriction information 441 and the user use restrictioninformation 442, the region dividing processing section 42 specifies thebutton ID of the button that cannot be selected (pressed). For example,in the configuration restriction information 441 of FIG. 28B, when the“Finisher” is not mounted, the “Staple/punch” is recognized as the “Nodisplay item”. Therefore, the region dividing processing section 42reports the button ID of the buttons related to the “Staple” or the“Punch” to the screen control section (so that the buttons related tothe “Staple” or the “Punch” cannot be displayed). As the method of thisreport, for example, a special ID (e.g. 999) may be set to the button IDof the button of the function recognized as “No display item”.

The screen control section 10 specifies the Divided region ID associatedwith only the button IDs of the buttons that cannot be displayed. Forexample, in the example of FIG. 33, there is only the “Staple” button inthe lower right divided region 52. Since the “Staple” button cannot beselected according to the configuration restriction information 441 ofFIG. 28B, the screen control section 10 specifies the Divided region IDof the lower right divided region 52. As a result of the specificationprocess, the screen control section 10 controls the movement of theselection frame 51 in a manner such that the selection frame 51 skips(does not move into (stop by)) the lower right divided region 52.Further, whether the selection frame 51 moves into (stops by) thedivided region 52 containing only buttons that cannot be selected can beset in the image forming apparatus 100 by a user.

Repositioning the Buttons

FIG. 35B shows an example of a screen when the disabled releases hishand from the touch panel after touching as shown in FIG. 35A. In thiscase, the position detecting section 41 detects that the disabledreleases his hand from the touch panel after the touching. In themeantime, the position detecting section 41 has already acquired theDivided region ID of the divided region 52 where the selection frame 51exists exactly when the touch panel is pressed. Therefore, the positiondetecting section 41 reports the acquired Divided region ID to therepositioning processing section 43. In addition, the position detectingsection 41 reports the positional information of the position where thedisabled touched (pressed) to the repositioning processing section 43.

The repositioning processing section 43 refers to the button positioningregion information 454 based on the received Divided region ID, andextracts all the button IDs associated with the Divided region ID in thebutton positioning region information 454. In the example of FIG. 35B,the button IDs of the buttons “Auto Paper Select”, “A4”, “Full size”,“93%”, “B4”, and “Auto Reduce/Enlarge” are extracted.

The repositioning processing section 43 refers to the screenconfiguration information 452 based on the extracted button IDs, andrepositions (moves the positions of) the buttons of the extracted buttonIDs so that the buttons are displayed at or near the position touched bythe disabled. In this repositioning process, the repositioningprocessing section 43 may appropriately reduce or enlarge the sizes ofthe buttons. By enlarging the size of the buttons, it may become easierfor the disabled to press the repositioned button. On the other hand,for example, when the number of the repositioned buttons is large, thesizes of the buttons may be appropriately reduced before the buttons 53are arranged (displayed).

The screen control section 10 updates the screen based on the screeninformation generated by the repositioning processing section 43. Bydoing this, it becomes possible to reposition and display the buttons 53closer to the hand of the disabled as shown in FIG. 35B. In FIG. 35B,the six buttons “Auto Paper Select”, “A4”, “Full size”, “93%”, “B4”, and“Auto Reduce/Enlarge” are displayed closer to the hand of the disabled.

FIG. 36 shows an example of the repositioned button information 455generated by the repositioning processing section 43. As shown in FIG.36, the repositioned button information 455 includes (stores) the items“Button ID”, “Coordinates (X3, Y3)”, and “Coordinates (X4, Y4)”. Theitems “Coordinates (X3, Y3)” and “Coordinates (X4, Y4)” are associatedwith the corresponding “Button ID”. For example, the item “Coordinates(X3, Y3)” indicates the coordinate value at the upper left corner, andthe item “Coordinates (X4, Y4)” indicates the coordinate value at thelower right corner of the corresponding buttons.

FIG. 37 shows an example of a state transition table indicating thetransition of states when the touch panel is pressed in the cases ofFIGS. 33 through 35B. The terms used in this table of FIG. 37 aredefined herein as follows:

The “State 1” is the state where the selection frame 51 automaticallymoves to the next (adjoining) divided region 52 every predetermined timeperiod.

The “State 2” is the state where the movement of the selection frame 51to the next (adjoining) divided region 52 by the screen control section10 is triggered when a press input (pressing operation) to the touchpanel is detected.

The “Normal press” is the pressing operation in which the disabledpresses and holds the touch panel and a predetermined time period hasnot passed yet.

The “Long press” is the pressing operation in which the disabled pressesand holds the touch panel and a time period equal to or longer than thepredetermined time period has passed.

The “Normal press→Release” is the pressing operation in which thedisabled releases his/her hand from the touch panel during the “Normalpress” state.

The “Long press→Release” is the pressing operation in which the disabledreleases his/her hand from the touch panel during the “Long press”state.

According to the state transition table of FIG. 37, in “State 1”, evenwhen any of the operations “Normal press”, “Long press”, and “Normalpress→Release” is performed, the image forming apparatus 100 maintains“State 1”. On the other hand, in “State 1”, when the “Longpress-Release” operation is performed, the image forming apparatus 100transitions (changes) from “State 1” to “State 2”.

Further, in “State 2”, when any of the operations “Normal press”, “Longpress”, “Normal press→Release”, and “Long press→Release” is performed,the image forming apparatus 100 maintains “State 2”.

Further, the operations accepted by the image forming apparatus 100 areexpressed by using numbers I though IV in the state transition table ofFIG. 37. The operations I though IV are herein defined as follows:

I: to acquire information of the divided region 52 where the selectionframe 51 existsII: to move the selection frame 51III: to repositionIV: to initialize a timer (the timer is used for measuring the holdingtime in the pressing and holding operation)

Therefore, in “State 1”, when the “Normal press” operation is performed,the position detecting section 41 acquires the Divided region ID of thedivided region 52 where the selection frame 51 exists. Similarly, in“State 1”, when the “Long press” operation is performed, the positiondetecting section 41 acquires the Divided region ID of the dividedregion 52 where the selection frame 51 exists. Further, in “State 1”,when the “Normal press→Release” operation is performed, therepositioning processing section 43 repositions the buttons. Further, in“State 1”, when the “Long press→Release” operation is performed, thescreen control section 10 resets (initializes) the timer.

In “State 2”, when the “Normal press” operation is performed, the screencontrol section 10 moves the selection frame 51. Further, in “State 2”,when the “Long press” operation is performed, the position detectingsection 41 acquires the Divided region ID of the divided region 52 wherethe selection frame 51 exists. Further, in “State 2”, when the “Normalpress-Release” operation is performed, the image forming apparatus 100performs nothing (does not respond). Further, in “State 2”, when the“Long press→Release” operation is performed, the repositioningprocessing section 43 repositions the buttons.

Operating Procedure

FIG. 38 is an exemplary flowchart showing the procedure including theprocesses of selecting the selection frame 51 and repositioning thebuttons. In this procedure, it is assumed that the procedure starts in“State 1”.

First, the screen control section 10 of the image forming apparatus 100displays the screen in the “disabled mode” in FIG. 33 in response to apredetermined operation performed by a user (step S410).

The screen control section 10 starts moving the selection frame 51 (stepS420). In this case, it is assumed that the initial position and themoving direction (method) of the selection frame 51 have been determinedalready.

The screen control section 10 starts measuring a time period so as tomove the selection frame 51 to the next divided region 52 based on everypredetermined time period (“x” seconds) (step S430).

While continuing the measurement of the time period, the screen controlsection 10 monitors whether the report indicating that the disabledtouches the touch panel is received from the position detecting section41 (step S440).

When determining that the position detecting section 41 does not reportthat the disabled touches the touch panel (NO in step S450), the screencontrol section 10 determines whether the predetermined time period (“x”seconds) has passed (step S530). When determining that the predeterminedtime period (“x” seconds) has not passed (NO is step S530), the processgoes back to step S440 and the screen control section 10 continues themonitoring.

On the other hand, when determining that the predetermined time period(“x” seconds) has passed (YES in step S530), the screen control section10 moves the selection frame 51 to the next divided region 52 (stepS520). Then, the process goes back to step S430, and the screen controlsection 10 starts measuring the time period while the selection frame 51stays in the next divided region 52 (step S430).

Referring back to step S450, when (or before or after) the positiondetecting section 41 reports that the disabled touches the touch panelto the screen control section 10 (YES in step S450), the positiondetecting section 41 reports the positional information of the touchedposition to the screen control section 10 (step S460).

The screen control section 10 refers to the divided region information453, reads out the Divided region ID of the divided region 52 where theselection frame 51 exists, and reports the Divided region ID to theposition detecting section 41 (step S470).

Then, the screen control section 10 monitors whether the disabledreleases his/her hand from the touch panel (step S480). Until thedisabled releases his/her hand from the touch panel (NO in step S490),the screen control section 10 continues the monitoring.

When the disabled releases his/her hand from the touch panel (YES instep S490), the screen control section 10 refers to the buttonpositioning region information 454, and reads out the button IDs of thebuttons included in the divided region 52 where the selection frame 51exists (step S500).

The screen control section 10 reports the button IDs of the buttonsincluded in the divided region 52 to the repositioning processingsection 43.

The repositioning processing section 43 repositions the buttons included(displayed) in the divided region 52 to or near the area of the touchpanel touched by the disabled (step S510). In this case, therepositioning processing section 43 refers to the screen configurationinformation 452, and determines the buttons to be displayed. Forexample, the repositioning processing section 43 determines (adjusts)the sizes of the buttons depending on the number of buttons to berepositioned, and arranges the buttons near the area touched by thedisabled. By executing the procedure as described above the buttons arerepositioned as shown in FIG. 35B.

Buttons not Repositioned

As described above, there may be some buttons that cannot be displayedbased on the configuration restriction information 441 or the user userestriction information 442. Therefore, there may be case where a partof the buttons in the same divided region 52 cannot be displayed. Inother words, in this divided region 52, the buttons that can be selected(displayed) and the buttons that cannot be selected (displayed) aremixed (included) at the same time.

Therefore, in a case where the disabled selects the divided region 52and there is the button ID of the button that cannot be displayed in thedivided region 52 as a result of referring to the button positioningregion information 454, the screen control section 10 reports the buttonIDs of the buttons included in the divided region 52 to therepositioning processing section 43. By doing this, it becomes possiblefor repositioning processing section 43 not to display the button thatcannot be displayed and that corresponds to the button ID.

As described above, since only the buttons that can be selected can bedisplayed as the choices in the screen, it may become possible toimprove the usability of the image forming apparatus 100.

FIG. 39 shows an example of a screen where the disabled selects one ofthe repositioned buttons. There are two operating methods where thedisabled selects one button from among the repositioned buttons. In oneoperating method, the disabled selects a desired button as shown in FIG.39. In this operating method, the system control section 4 specifies thebutton pressed by the disabled based on a comparison between thepositional information indicating the touched position acquired from theposition detecting section 41 and the repositioned button information455 acquired from the repositioning processing section 43.

In the other operating method, there is provided a second selectionframe (not shown) formed around each of the buttons (six buttons in thecase of FIG. 39); and the second selection frame sequentially movesthrough the buttons (one by one). Then, while the second selection frameexists on the desired button, the disabled may press any part of thetouch panel. In this operating method, as described above, the disabledis allowed to press any part of the touch panel. Therefore, it maybecome possible to operate in the same way as the disabled selecting thedivided region 52 as described above.

These two operating methods may be switched from one to the other by apredetermined operation such as the disabled performing the above“Normal press→Release” operation twice within a predetermined short timeperiod.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus 100 according to anembodiment of the present invention, the disabled may select a group ofbuttons that includes a desired button and that is included in a dividedregion 52 by pressing any part of the touch panel while the selectionframe 51 exists in the divided region 52. Then, the group of the buttonsmay be repositioned and displayed near the hand of the disabled. Becauseof this feature, the disabled may select the desired button withoutmoving his/her hand through a greater distance. Further, when the secondselection frame sequentially moves through the selected group ofbuttons, the disabled may select the desired button simply bycontinually pressing any (the same) part of the touch panel.

Although the invention has been described with respect to specificembodiments for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims arenot to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying allmodifications and alternative constructions that may occur to oneskilled in the art that fairly fall within the basic teaching herein setforth.

1. An image forming apparatus accepting a selecting operation ofselecting a button displayed on a touch panel thereof and performing aprocess corresponding to the selected button, the image formingapparatus comprising: a moving region display unit configured to displaya region mark to be selected on the touch panel and move the region markas time passes; and a button specifying unit configured to specify oneor more of the buttons based on positional information indicating aposition of the region mark and positional information indicating apressed position of the touch panel.
 2. The image forming apparatusaccording to claim 1; further comprising: a dividing condition acceptingunit configured to accept a dividing condition for dividing the touchpanel into plural regions; wherein the moving region display unitdisplays the region mark on the touch panel, the region mark havingsubstantially the same size as that of the regions, in a manner suchthat the region mark is superimposed onto one of the regions and movesthrough the regions, and the button specifying unit specifies the one ormore of the buttons included in the region mark when the touch panel ispressed regardless of the positional information indicating the pressedposition of the touch panel.
 3. The image forming apparatus according toclaim 2; further comprising: a repositioning unit configured toreposition the one or more of the buttons specified by the buttonspecifying unit to near the pressed position of the touch panel anddisplay the repositioned one or more of the buttons.
 4. The imageforming apparatus according to claim 2; further comprising: a switchingunit configured to switch between a mode in which the region marksequentially moves through the regions as time passes and a mode inwhich the region mark sequentially moves through the regions when the apredetermined manual operation is detected.
 5. The image formingapparatus according to claim 2, wherein the dividing condition acceptingunit accepts a dividing condition for dividing the touch panel intoplural regions in a manner such that the regions include substantially asame number of the buttons.
 6. The image forming apparatus according toclaim 2, wherein when the image forming apparatus provides pluralfunctions using respective screens, the dividing condition acceptingunit accepts the dividing condition for the corresponding functions. 7.The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the movingregion display unit refers to device mounting information and user userestriction information, the device mounting information storing buttoninformation of an optional part that is mounted on the image formingapparatus, the user use restriction information storing informationregarding one or more of the buttons that can or cannot be used by auser, and then, the moving region display unit does not stop the regionmark on a region where all the buttons consist of only buttonscorresponding to a not-mounted device based on the device mountinginformation or only buttons that cannot be used based on the user userestriction information or consisting of a combination thereof.
 8. Theimage forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the repositioningunit refers to device mounting information and user use restrictioninformation, the device mounting information storing button informationof an optional part mounted on the image forming apparatus, the user userestriction information storing information regarding one or more of thebuttons that can or cannot be used by a user, and then, therepositioning unit excludes the buttons corresponding to a not-mountedpart based on the device mounting information or the buttons that cannotbe used based on the user use restriction information from the buttonsto be repositioned to near the pressed position of the touch panel. 9.The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the movingregion display unit displays the region mark on the touch panel in amanner such that the region mark displaying button information of thebuttons moves in a uniform direction, and the button specifying unitspecifies one of the buttons corresponding to the button informationdisplayed in the region mark, the one of the buttons existing in aposition in accordance with the positional information indicating thepressed position.
 10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9,further comprising: a use frequency recording unit configured to recorduse frequency of the one of the buttons specified by the buttonspecifying unit, wherein the moving region display unit changes a sizeof the region mark depending on the use frequency.
 11. The image formingapparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: a use frequencyrecording unit configured to record use frequency of the one of thebuttons specified by the button specifying unit, wherein the movingregion display unit changes moving speed of the region mark depending onthe use frequency.
 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9,further comprising: a use frequency recording unit configured to recorduse frequency of the one of the buttons specified by the buttonspecifying unit, wherein the moving region display unit changes color ofthe region mark depending on the use frequency.
 13. The image formingapparatus according to claim 9, wherein the moving region display unitdisplays a number along with the button information on the region mark,and the button specifying unit specifies a button displaying a samenumber in the region mark as that pressed by ten keys mounted byhardware.
 14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, furthercomprising: a user identification unit configured to identify a user ofthe image forming apparatus; a disabled information storage unitconfigured to store information whether the user is disabled; and aswitching unit configured to, when the user is determined to bedisabled, switch from a mode of accepting a pressing operation of staticbuttons to a mode of accepting an operation where the region mark moves.15. An operation accepting method used in an image forming apparatusaccepting a selecting operation of selecting a button displayed on atouch panel thereof and performing a process corresponding to theselected button, the operation accepting method comprising: a movingregion display step of moving a region mark to be selected on the touchpanel as time passes; and a button specifying step of specifying one ormore of the buttons based on positional information indicating aposition of the region mark and positional information indicating apressed position of the touch panel.